How are transformation initiatives impeded by lack of team empowerment?

Employee Engagement Portfolio, Program & Project Management Team & Organizational Design

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Senior Executive Advisor in Software2 years ago

One of the goals of a transformation project is to ensure teams are happy and enabled. But I've done interviews with development and product teams in pathological or bureaucratic enterprises undergoing transformation, and they revealed that while there might be a well-communicated purpose and urgency, the teams did not feel empowered. The level of leadership oversight on a strategic task is in direct proportion to the business value it drives, the accountability levels in the enterprise, and the urgency to achieve the outcome.

When teams that work on transformational tasks suffer from increased oversight, it often translates into status reports, deferred decision making, aggressive deadlines, and poor life-work balance. This creates a sense of low to no empowerment and low team morale. But there are approaches that can counter this effect:

1. Providing emotional intelligence training to leaders and management

2. Increased visual indicators (e.g., progress meters, Kanban board, Impact-Effort boards)

3. Retrospectives at the strategic levels and town halls with business leaders, for which the themes are enablement, empowerment and team appreciation

4. A connectivity graph that shows how tasks and initiatives are connected to drive business outcomes.

1 1 Reply

CIO in Education2 years ago

Is a goal really to ensure that teams are happy?

CIO in Education2 years ago

My take is that if teams don’t feel empowered, then there is overall lack of engagement and buy-in, which will derail any initiative.

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Chief Technology Officer in Software2 years ago

An Initiative without team uptake and empowerment is simply just ones and zeros or some new pretty piece of hardware. What brings about transformation and transformative systems are the empowered people behind it. As a CTO or CIO you will not see any success in your projects without considering both as 2 halves of the same coin.

CIO in Healthcare and Biotech2 years ago

Teams must be able to address issues and make decisions unencumbered by bureaucracy. If they can't do what they need, the work will be incomplete or significantly delayed.

VP in Software2 years ago

Disruptive transformation can come with a start-up team spirit, where innovation and passion drive the creation of new products and services. Some strategic planning is required to create a high-level boundary on budget/spend, ROI monitoring, and shielding business and stakeholders' pressure. The team on the ground needs to be provided with high autonomy in decision-making and empowered with all resources to unleash their creativity. A governance authority and advisory committee to keep a check and guide the team at a high level to provide advice and guidance from time to time.